Affinity fraud includes investment frauds that prey upon members of identifiable groups, such
as religious or ethnic communities, the elderly, or professional groups. It is
called affinity fraud because the definition of affinity is: a similarity or likeness
that connects persons or things.The
fraudsters who promote affinity scams frequently are - or pretend to be -
members of the group. They often enlist respected community or religious
leaders from within the group to spread the word about the scheme, by
convincing those people that a fraudulent investment is legitimate and worthwhile.
Many times, those leaders become unwitting victims of the fraudster’s ruse.

These scams exploit the trust and friendship that exist in
groups of people who have something in common. Because of the tight-knit
structure of many groups, it can be difficult for regulators or law enforcement
officials to detect an affinity scam.

Victims often fail to notify authorities or pursue their
legal remedies, and instead try to work things out within the group. This is particularly
true where the fraudsters have used respected community or religious leaders to
convince others to join the investment.

Prime targets of such scams are church groups of various
denominations. For example: If it’s a Korean church being targeted then it
would most likely be a Korean church leader used to introduce the scammer as a
person of trustworthiness.

Regardless of the race of the group, to gain the trust of
the congregation the con artist would first befriend a church leader as a means
to his or her vulnerable church members.I have observed over the years that many scams are perpetrated upon the
Black church by way of the affinity fraud.A red flag of alertness should go up anytime a church leader introduces
a business opportunity to his or her church that was brought to them by an
outsider of the church. Often the opportunities come in the way of investments,
or multi-level marketing.The main
attraction is money. They usually tell you of the many people that are making a
lot of money. Some of these people you or your church leader may even know.
That’s because the people that got in early on are used as the bait to lure others.Churches are such easy targets because the members
are taught to be faithful and expect miracles from God and therefore anything
that resembles a miracle will be accepted on faith. The affinity fraud works best
among the most faithful because they’re less likely to smell a fraud or call the
police if the miracle does not come to fruition. Next week you will read about
a recent affinity fraud upon many Black churches and thousands of Black church members
across America
called the “Miracle Car Scam.” The fraud netted the scammers millions.

Historically, African-American preachers have been misused
to mislead their church members for many years. It was the Black church that
the white doctors turned to in Macon
County, Alabama in
the 1930s when they sought human guinea pigs for the syphilis experiment now
known as “The Tuskegee Experiment.” It is the
pastor’s duty to protect his sheep and not lead them to slaughter. Every time
your religious leader endorses an outsider or new member that is the deliverer of
an ambiguous miracle, a red flag should go up.

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